Genshin Impact is an action, role-playing game that allows the player to play as a variety of different characters, throughout an open-world environment.
Earning the highest revenue in its first year of release than any other game before, Genshin Impact has taken game development by storm by creating a mashup of different styles and genres of gameplay, graphics and storytelling.
Many have compared Genshin Impact to games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for its similar game mechanics like gliding, climbing, use of stamina, and most of all, its graphics style. Each game has similarities, as well as many differences between the two.
Genshin Impact starts as one of two main characters (male or female) is blocked by an unknown god on their journey, and is sent to a place called Teyvat, where they then travel through the nations of Teyvat to find their missing sibling (the other of the main characters). The story is by no means linear, taking the player through numerous encounters, experiences, and side-quests. There are no clear success criteria so far, while there is the main storyline, the game involves a variety of different things for the player to do. From unlocking characters (either through quests or via the game’s gacha mechanics), to character quests and side quests, material gathering, combat mechanics, and even more details in the game, all before the game is even close to the end of its development.
By far, the most popular aspect of the game is the characters. It can be difficult to unlock certain characters, due to the chance system as well as the rarity of the characters, but it’s interesting to see how each character interacts in combat, with other characters, and how they develop within the story. Seeing their different styles of gameplay, personality and even the costuming of some characters is more than half the fun in my opinion.
The story in the game is definitely a key element of Genshin Impact. The plot follows the ‘Traveler’ (the player) on their journey through the nations of Teyvat, as they search for their sibling. As of the most recent update, there are three nations, Mondstadt, Liyue and Inazuma. The Traveler’s goal being to meet with the god of each nation, known as the archons, and locate their sibling. The three nations follow different paths, whether it be to restore peace in Mondstadt, to uncover the mystery of the death of Liyue’s archon or to defend the people of Inazuma against the oppressive forces of their archon.
Overall, the game has a unique charm to it. Genshin is very enjoyable, the gameplay, the graphics and the different story arcs are brilliant and intriguing. Genshin roped in so much attention and kept it for so long with all its intricacies in an almost addictive way. For a free-to-play game, it’s incredible, it’s done extremely well, attracting more than 85 million players worldwide, and it seems like it isn’t going anywhere in the future.